Oriole Chicago, Jan 2026

So for context and comparison, in the last year I've been to 3 other two-stars: Aquavit (NYC), Acquerello (SF), Acquolina (Rome), and a couple one-stars – Zia (Rome) + EL Ideas (Chicago). Plus a few restaurants in areas that don't pay for Michelin that I think would get a star or two e.g. Nodoguro in Portland.

Nodoguro's sous chef told me Oriole was his favorite restaurant in Chicago (having lived and worked there) so it was my choice for this year's visit & it was simply a highlight of my life; it exceeded my extremely high expectations. In case it helps anyone, I rank these Oriole > Acquerello >>>> Nodoguro >> Acquolina > Zia > EL Ideas (Aquavit was just 6 courses at lunch but it'd be up with the top 2 based on how everything there was perfect). That's also more or less in order of price 🙂

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Oriole ended up $516 a person including tax+tip+n/a drink pairing. Thus far for me, not only does the experience get better the more I pay but it seems to get exponentially better – Oriole was twice the price of EL Ideas in the same city and I'd say four times better, certainly. 17 courses, 14 of them made my list of best things I've ever eaten, including a couple top-5s that nearly made me cry and 5 more top-20/30s. For reference Acquerello was 22 courses (11×2 different menus) with also 14 making that list.

Courses 1-3 are at the bar with a shellfish+fruit theme. The abalone was wonderfully smoky and the kombu and buddha hand both did their jobs perfectly, amazing first bite. PEI blue mussel with yuzu kosho/finger lime/mussel mousse was one of the best oceany/briny bites I've ever had. Scallop with persimmon and persimmon granita was just very good, I didn't get enough from the fruit to elevate it beyond that.

Course 4 in the kitchen, toast with foie gras mousse, liquid nitro'd creme fraiche pearls, kind of a fig jam. Not unique but tremendously tasty, perfect texture + temp contrast. It's foie gras, it's like a cheat code when it's done right & it was. Incredibly good drink paired with this, a cherry-thyme verjus/spiced chamomile thing.

Rest of the courses are at the dining table. Hojicha custard with potato, toasted wheat berries, potato, & caviar — wonderfully nutty, caviar was more of a back note but it wasn't a $$ supplement so that's a-OK. The cauliflower was more or less a salad, chaud-froid cooked hot served cold, stunning texture on the cauliflower itself (silky and creamy outside but still a lot of bite to the inside, never had anything similar) and lovely flavors.

The uni infladita is a puffed crispy tortilla filled with tiger prawn and morita pepper and pickled watermelon radish, topped with uni, & it's the first thing that made me want to cry. This is why I go to places like this, there's very little else in life that makes me feel as good as food at this level, it was absolutely perfect, the heat level was so precisely right, the crispy tortilla & flavor from the masa, the richness, I just had to close my eyes and make the moment last as long as possible. Will never forget it, one of my top 5 bites ever.

The cup o mushrooms was enokis over a king trumpet custard, matsutakes from my area (PNW), & a mushroom consomme poured over. The best mushroomy dish I've ever had, three flavors and texutres of fungus that all worked perfectly together, tremendously rich custard with lovely delicate enokis. Another standout drink pairing with this, genmaicha & hojicha with a ginger-maple shrub. The sablefish (my favorite fish & another PNW specialty) was perfectly cooked and the white asparagus in the foam went with it so well, and the textures of the rices, the nutty chestnut, one of the best fish dishes I've had. At least as good as the king salmon at Aquavit.

The venison with truffle was excellent but I want to talk about the little pastry that came with it, the chocolate/coffee canele next to the spine bones. This was another top 5 thing I've ever had. The A5 wagyu with various accoutrements was great fun mixing and matching the flavors together, every bite different.

The lemon/rosemary palate cleanser did its job but wasn't memorable (the best I've had was at Vetri in Philly, a celery sorbet with candied coriander seed, so I know they can be memorable while also wiping your slate clean). The golden milk desert was on the low end of my top 5 desserts ever, lovely contrast with rich and light, hot and cold, sweet and bitter. And finally all 3 mignardises were very good though the apple/sage tarte was the only really outstanding one, never had a texture quite like the apple layer, very silky.

The N/A pairing added a huge amount to the experience & splitting it is the way to go imo (you still get plenty of each, sips go a long way)

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Overall it's my #1 ranked restaurant and it's the best way to spend 3 hours and $500 that I know of, as far as adding value & happiness to my life goes. It was a very similar experience to driving the icefields parkway in the Canadian Rockies, in that one can only be so amazed so many times in a row before it kinda gets overwhelming and I just need time to process everything that just happened. 12/10 on the best flavor, 16/10 on flavor variety, my highest ranked restaurant with a 28/20. Flying back to Chicago just to eat here again in September with a different menu.